“It doesn’t work that way. It’s not like we can consult their corporate records. He doesn’t carry a membership card.”
Cook was annoyed with the teasing.
“Well, don’t ask me how, but I know it’s him and his friends.”
Riverton asked other questions, making notes in his little book. He stuffed it in his shirt pocket again, and suggested he talk to every employee at the store, which Cook agreed with and gave permission to.
“My daughter comes this afternoon, should be here anytime now. Other than Kip, and Brandy, the others are part-time, going full time in the summer when their school is out.”
“Seasonal. I got it.”
Cook hesitated, and then asked the question he’d been dying to know the answer to. “Detective Riverton, do you believe me about all this, or do you think I’ve been getting high?”
Riverton took a deep breath and pulled his pants up by the belt, readjusting it. “Sometimes it takes awhile for me to get a feel of a crime. But trust me, if it’s there, it will come to me. Right now, I’m not seeing why someone who is already in trouble for the first offense, try to mess with you a second time. I mean, a case of oranges? What’s the point in that? What? Ten or twenty bucks of oranges?”
Cook was at the end of his rope. Riverton’s attitude stunk. When Riverton didn’t give him a straight answer, Cook added, “That’s what I thought.”
Chapter 7
Brandy headed to Dorie’s to return the scarf she’d borrowed on the trip up north. That beautiful weekend seemed so long ago, but it was just three months. She was packed for the trip to Chicago, leaving early in the morning. She had a few hours to do at the store, then she was going to get to bed early.
Dorie’s face was gaunt and appeared almost gray, not the beautiful tan and pink skin she normally had. From the appearance of the bluish circles under her eyes, it was obvious her friend had not been sleeping.
They embraced and Dorie allowed her in.
“First of all, thank you for letting me borrow this. I had it dry cleaned.” She handed over the scarf, folded in tissue.
“Thank you. I’d totally forgotten about it.”
Brandy examined her friend’s body posture, her shoulders slightly slumping. She was wearing distressed blue jeans, partially unbuttoned, and a big white fleece sweatshirt and silver flip-flops. Her hair was wrapped up in a clip atop her head.
“Are you working today?”
Dorie smirked and examined her clothes. “No. I asked for a few days.”
The two had met at an upscale advertising agency, until Brandy had been fired. “I have to be honest. I’m worried about you, Dorie.”
The new bride attempted a smile. “I’m pregnant, Brandy. I just don’t know if the father of my baby wants to be my husband anymore.”
She began to melt into sobs when Brandy held her, directing her to an overstuffed living room chair, where the two collapsed. Brandy was reassuring her it would all work out. She hoped she was telling the truth.
“Does Brawley know?”
“Nope. Haven’t heard from him in a month. This early in the pregnancy, anything could happen, so I don’t want to distract him.”
“We can always ask Kyle to let him know, if you want.”
“Not on your life. It’s my story. Probably my fault too, or at least that’s what Brawley will say.”
“You don’t think he’ll be happy with the baby? Perhaps it’s the perfect something that would cheer him up.” Brandy wasn’t sure if this would help.
“He’s been a ghost. I’m not sure where he’s at.” She began another bout of tears and leaned against her for comfort.
Brandy was heart broken. She’d never considered Dorie’s marriage with Brawley could be so loveless. And now with a baby coming, there was added pressure she didn’t need.
“Whatever happens, Dorie, understand that the baby was not a mistake. One of God’s little angels coming into your life at just the right time. Brawley might be acting like a jerk, but the baby is truly a gift, an angel, and messenger from up above. Just remember that.”
“I’m scared. Never felt this way before, Brandy.”
“Well, girlfriend, I’m certainly no expert, but I’d say you’re developing some pretty powerful hormones. Mood swings are supposed to be one of the side effects early on.”
“That could be part of it, but I also got another one of those calls from that girl, asking for Brawley again. I told her I was his wife, and she said she knew and hung up.” She shook her head. “What a douchebag. What’s he done now? Maybe I don’t want to know.”
“I agree. It’s like he’s become a completely different person. You think he’s hurting about something? Something he doesn’t want you to know about?”
“I have no clue. None whatsoever.”
“Well, the main thing is the two of us should stick together. You lean on me until he gets home and you guys can go see a counselor. I’m sure, in time, you two will sort it all out.”
Dorie separated from her and stood. “You want some wine or something?”
“I’d love a glass of ice water.”
“Done! As a matter of fact, that’s what I’ll have as well.”
She was in the kitchen in a flash. Brandy joined her. All her life she’d envied the beautiful girls, like Dorie. The ones who just walked into a room and all the guys would come to their knees. Brandy had begun to feel invisible. She told herself everything her mother had drummed into her about character and real love. But it was a fact that she felt unattractive, until she met Tucker.
Dorie had more men around her constantly, vying for her attention, cozying up to her, even though they knew she was married. It was just inconceivable that all this be happening to her. She watched her friend play with her blonde curls, sorting and sifting her long fingers through them. She allowed silent tears to flow.
Brandy wanted to be a good friend, but she always felt Dorie was out of her league. Tonight, her perspective had shifted.
Dorie gave her a weak smile, as if she’d read her thoughts. “You must think I’m a bit crazy.”
“Not at all. It’s just that you don’t have enough information.”
Her best friend appeared to be thinking about that. Then she asked, “Have you eaten? You wanna go out somewhere to have a light lunch? Or, I can fix us something.”
“I ate, but I’m also due at the store.” Brandy answered. “I fly out to Chicago tomorrow morning, so I was going to go to bed early after that.”
Dorie grabbed her. “Here I am, raining on your parade. I’m so sorry, Brandy.” The tears began to form. She covered her face with her palm. “Oh, what am I going to do?”
“Why don’t you call his LPO’s wife, Christy? Perhaps she can give you some suggestions, and take my place for a week while I’m in Chicago. I hear she’s a great confident.”
“Except for the fact that I know something is going on with Brawley. That information will go straight to Kyle, then. Brawley wouldn’t want me to jeopardize his career.”
“But by shoving it under the rug, you could actually make it much worse. Whatever it is, you’re far better nipping it in the bud.”
The two said good-bye. As Brandy was walking out the door, she heard the phone ring.
“Hang on.” Dorie coaxed her to stay long enough so she could answer the phone. She took the clip out of her hair, loosening it vigorously and grabbed her telephone.
Her expression changed after she heard the first few words coming from the other end of the line. Her forehead puckered. Her eyes squinted and she began to tremble. Brandy rushed back to her side.
“What is it?” she whispered.
“Yes. I’ll be here,” said Dorie, her voice trailing to oblivion. Thank you for calling.”
Whatever she was going to say next, Brandy knew she wasn’t going to like hearing.
“He’s gone missing. Brawley has just disappeared. In Mexico. The Navy is sending someone over to discuss a possible hostage
negotiation.”
Her normally sparkling bright blue eyes were filled with pain. Her best friend’s nightmare was going to consume them all.
Chapter 8
Tucker was nervous as he drove to the airport to pick up Brandy. Her plane was delayed, but force of habit still made him show up early to the original arrival time. He’d rented the bridal suite downtown at a small boutique hotel with a beautiful view of the sparkling towers of the city center that seemed to stretch for miles. It had nearly emptied his bank account, since he had to pay for the weekend in full before he could reserve it. And his check hadn’t been deposited yet.
He was worrying about a lot of things these days. And money was one of them. Would Brandy be satisfied with how little he would make? Even as a SEAL, the pay was ridiculously low. And, he had to admit, he’d never been good at managing his money, so at almost forty years of age, he was still living from paycheck to paycheck. His truck was the only thing of value he owned, and it was mortgaged to the hilt. He knew a lot of Team Guys who kept re-enlisting so the bonuses they received could pay off all their debts. Lots of guys never got ahead.
He should know better. That’s one thing he was going to have to fix. With Brandy’s help, he knew he could.
He’d placed a call to Kyle as soon as Brawley had hung up on him two nights ago. And now, nearly forty-eight hours later, he didn’t get a call back from him either.
It was strange feeling part of the team without really being on it. He wasn’t allowed to know everything they were doing, but, God willing, he would be joining them in another year. So, here he was, sitting in classrooms, marching to cadences, having room inspections and having to listen to pre-pubescent conversations all around him with kids that barely shaved. He’d killed people with his bare hands. He’d married, loved with abandon, got totally dumped on while he was deployed, and probably made love to another forty women after his divorce. These guys didn’t have a clue what was about to fuck with them. The medics in the class were still embarrassed to watch a woman give birth in the hospital.
He hoped Brandy had some answers for him, because he’d thought about everything so many times his brain was fried.
The world bloomed when he saw her running toward him in the airport lobby. Without caring, she’d dropped her carryon and slammed that big, beautiful body against him, he nearly fucked her right then and there. Just holding her vibrating form, smelling the sweet perfume of her womanhood and her desire for him made him drunk with all the right things. Blood flowed to body parts that had gone dormant. It could have been the dead of winter, but it was spring in his body. There were lights, music, birds chirping and all the other fuckin’ things that guys feel when they’re in love. It was so funny, he nearly cried from the irony. He’d signed up to kill people for his country and have to leave this woman alone while he did it. What kind of a decision was that?
“Tucker, I ache all over I’m so excited to see you.”
“Baby, I haven’t slept in a week. I’ve not thought of anything else.” He wanted to feel that way. He just had to lie about the worries, because that wasn’t how he was going to talk to her. That was going to have to be between him and his maker.
They were ushered to their room. He gave the bellman twenty dollars because her suitcase was the heaviest he’d ever seen. The guy studied Tucker, all buff and huge, easily a hundred pounds heavier than the skinny guy too small for the uniform. But he made great effort to place the enormous bag on the bed, as Brandy had requested. He loved that about her. She was oblivious to those little details, like the princess she certainly was.
So, the kid backed out the door, wiped his forehead and beamed when Tucker gave him the twenty and a wink.
“Thank you, sir.”
“You earned it. Get some ice on that lower back, okay?”
Brandy had started unpacking.
“We’re only here for three days.”
“I don’t care, I want to get all my things hung up and refolded so they don’t wrinkle.”
She didn’t even look at him, as she picked up each article of clothing and shook it out and either added it to the closet or the drawers.
“So, you going to give me a fashion show, where you take your clothes off and put them back on every hour? That what we’re doing?” He leaned against the wall, more relaxed than he’d felt in two months. And it had nothing to do with alcohol or the extremely good vape one of the boys in his dorm had brought from home. He just loved watching her do her thing. That’s what he’d missed.
But his pantsbunny reminded him that he’d missed the sex, too. She’d worn a white stretchy blouse over a pair of black slacks. Lucky for him the dresser was directly across from him, and, after she’d filled up the top two drawers she had to bend over to get to the third one near the floor. Suddenly there was that vision before him that drove him to action.
He ran across the room and grabbed her so quickly she screamed. “What are you doing?”
“You can do this later. Right now, I’m here for the sole purpose of satisfying that ache you talked about in the airport. Can we talk about that now, please? I’ve been very patient.” He said all this while he was pushing her suitcase off the bed. It crashed on the floor and spilled contents, some jars of something rolling down the carpet trying to escape through the front door.
But she didn’t notice because she was laughing so hard. He hoisted her on the bed and dropped her and she continued to laugh.
“Now that, that’s a heavy suitcase!” he said.
She propped herself up on her elbows, looking up at him. “Hey!”
“Oh shut up and help me get you naked please. I don’t want to ruin anything, but honestly, honey, I really don’t care.”
He pulled her shirt over her head and viewed a spectacular pushup bra with flower stitching and pearls. The thing gave her easily an eight-inch cleavage.
“Perfect!” he said. “You’re gonna leave that on.”
“It opens in the front.”
“Like I said, perfect. When I release, you can release that too, okay?”
She laughed again, unzipped her pants and shimmied them down her hips and thighs. “You’ll want to take note of these,” she said as she splayed her hands to the sides to show him the matching panties. “And just watch!” She scrambled to her knees and bent over. Just below the beautiful butt crack that was revealed, and above that perfect ass, was a little bow stitched in place.
“Hold that pose,” Tucker said as he kicked off his shoes and removed his slacks, nearly losing his balance and falling on the floor. At last, fully naked, he demonstrated his treat for her eyes. “Ta-Da!” His hands splayed to the sides, revealing his enormous boner. It was nearly bright purple it was so throbbing and hard.
“Oh my.”
“Indeed. Now, honey, you be careful now, because this might hurt.”
“Oh dear. Really?” She whispered in return, still on her knees, looking at him with those sultry red lips and her mahogany hair mussed up all over her shoulders. “And here I can’t even pleasure myself.” She rolled her head back as she pressed her palms down the satin and cotton of the bra, lower to smooth over her belly and then down over her hips. She leaned onto her shoulders, placed her palms at her rear, spread her cheeks and slipped the panty elastic to the side to insert a finger in her core. “I’m so ready for you Tucker.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Not going to fit, But I do admire you for trying. My dick is so hard your panties are going to chop it off. That might ruin our evening.”
She nearly fell to the bed, laughing.
He crawled to spoon over her, his hands fondling her from behind.
She groaned and leaned into his touch, wherever he chose to place his hands.
“I like that. Very compliant. You want a little bit of me, baby?”
“I want it all.”
“Even if it hurts?” He pulled the panties down over one hip and leg, and then removed the other side.
“You can k
iss it and make it better.”
“I can kiss it right now and make you come. I know I can. Shall I try?”
She didn’t answer him, but nodded, viewing his face through her hair.
He slid beneath her on his back and drank from her sex looming above him. She undulated to the rhythm of his tongue, moaning and clutching her chest. He added his thumb and she started to vibrate.
“Told you so,” he whispered.
“Don’t stop now.”
He climbed to his knees behind her, massaging her slit from her bud to her anal flower. “I’ve missed you. How you taste. How smooth your skin is, and how beautiful you look when you’re pink and aroused, and when you come on my mouth.”
He lifted her gently so he could position her over his rod, and then slowly pulled her down and back on top of him. She hissed and made little mewling sounds as he filled her with each tiny thrust up inside her. And when he could go no further, he pressed her hips down to go beyond.
Their breathing was in tandem, as he held her there on the bed. He kissed the back of her neck, slowly smoothed over her thighs and her round ass, returning to her bud where he gently pinched her, which brought another hiss.
“Love this, Tucker. No rush. I want this all night long.”
“Absolutely, sweetheart. Anything you want. I’m here. Not going anywhere.”
Chapter 9
Brandy woke up against Tucker’s back. He had one arm twisted behind him, resting on her thigh. The scent of his neck was sweet, almost feminine. She inhaled deeply and let all that delicious, moist air refresh her lungs.
There wasn’t any part of him she did not love. She hoped it would always be like this—each of them totally consumed in their passions, attentive, hard at work to create joy and get as close to each other’s souls as possible. In bed with him was the only place on earth where she felt the true meaning of life. Where there were no barriers, only truth in gentle movements. They gave, and took. They rested and gave more. It was a cycle she doubted she could ever tire from. She felt cherished in his enormous arms. He’d do anything to protect her, and she felt the same for him.
SEALed At The Altar_Bone Frog Brotherhood Novel Page 5